The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1887-01-14
ALASKAN EXPEDITION.
ACROSS THE SNOW BOUND COUNTRY
FOR THE sTETcHeoN RIVER.


The Mighty Amazon OF the Nor'h-'rao-
ing with the Natives--Runaway Dogs.
ua..,,.,,,v q. rr.,.,.rs--A Sick Indian,
Hoasting s"inon'
Tho s,ecbeo, IN length. width and vol
u,,a - ,ra,or rants on,ono the great
si''.'u 90 ,to aar,h I, 90 tho mighty
A,oa,on NJ Tho nortb II Won can find
49,, rnI;ab,a mo-, ~ this countrv trace the
on;,rso of tbia river until n turns west
ao,a '.,,, ,,,;ii ord n trading most called
In,,o;,,, h,,t os we could gain time in
,.,,,'', ,ornss tbo conntrv insteod of fol-
ssN,is,, sviS ,ha ri,,ar q, ma no,nt we broupht
hoots fhat aro a combination If boat and
s,oJ,,a Thav aro tha native f,at bottomed
onos made nv stretcbing sealskin over
n wooden frame and Fastening IL there by
,ra,r,,s stir
A s,,rr,na ,rodo WINS now storted with
,bo na,ivos for a full sunnlv of fur cloth
;nr, fnr ,ha ontira comnanv and prices
,,,e,,, ~, ooo nor cont tbe natives nctu-
Iii, ,',p,inS, nr,oos occording IN tbe de-
s,,a,,i Tha Ss,orr,,,o,,,s ora n fnr frocL with
a hood attachoJ fur nonts socL boots
and = fur sleenino bag Mi with the fur
inu;Js or dorilaE TINT is made of two
.tina In thickness
We took nossessiop NJ n loo house built
nv some American In the mast vear. but
now unused We niled the earth well
round to Tho beiobt of ten feet and nut
mn Yankee coolSing stove The natives
looled on Win astonisbment at the snirit
and ener:,v of the stranoers
No nroc,,ro doo,s ,vos fha al, ;mnortant
uatter INT With the aid of the natives
tbev wore soon obtained and at biob 10
one dav some months after landing. we
Get ont W. started cbeered ON nv the
sbonts and snlntes of firearms of those
loft bnbind Wa followed tbn Irnirolla
croak tha loo oxar ,.bich ,va drova xyna
coverad v,i,b sno,v that ,vaa NOT hard
,yhich nada tba sladgino baavv soon
oftar stril,jn, this stream tbe ha,ts he
came Iined with snrnca tir and hircb
Many of tbe streams xyare large One Of
tbe sledoes lost mart of tbe hone with
which n woa sbod malk;ng II draw beav-
ilv This nrovoked tbe dogs who -yere
no bettor behaved thon they should he.
T,vo of them rnn,vad tbeir harness and
ran bock home
A clear MACE on tbe hank ,vos fonnd
inst M tho lirbt bngan to foda Here we
startnl "A f,ro ond 1renorad to mako orr
first out door comn in Alaska Fire was
started bacon ,vas cnotad and invigorot-
RntrnSnnn nnO0
per we rolled ourselves IN in our fur
baps and Inv down to sleen with notbinq
above us but the branches of the trees
aud tho hIuc CIV In rbe morning ye
awoke refreshed and fonnd thot four
mora nf tba dors had gnauad loosa and
lnft for homo
one driver wont bocl, after tho rpn-
AWAY dos and after bnrnesaing mn we
started. some of MS belping the DOGS in
,br hard nloces After Ave bours, travel
wc came to nm Indian v;Ilaga and no the
usuel cnstom ia to ASSIGN n house To all
s,ronoc pannle we had one SET aside for
us With a fire already built and in order
to keen the heat in the hole in the roof
was covered Tho smoke tbo retained
smell of stale fish. the odor of a pronn of
doys. mingled with perfumes of varions
kinds. made il ANYTHING hut n desirable
place The hole was uncovered tbe fire
renlenisbed and the cooking commenced
Th, at,nosphere was becomino nnrer
when some dogs who were fighting ON
tho roof tumbled throuob tho boIa ,rbe
pots were overturned and the room tilled
with the smell of burning hair.
The people of this village were busv
making baskets. fish traps, snow shoes
and sledrps The children were fat and
bapny The owner placed n nortion of hia
platform at our DISPOSAL. We cleaned II
of dirt. covered it with our furs and pro-
ceeded to make ourselves at home
Fresh reindeer meat and wild fowl vera
procured and. with hot, biscuits gave ma
n good simmer,
We resolved to await our dogs here and
devote the time To the studv ~ Indian
life and character. Both sexes use
tobacco. Smokers generally discharge the
smoke from the mouth In This wav
much of the essence of the tobacco escanes
These people swallow the smoke and In
this way lodge abont tbe stomach and
lungs what would otherwise he lost
We had nm annlication from n sict
Indian. who asked To he cured and said.
Much hurt here,i We annlied a blister
of Spanish Nv and the neIt morning the
invalid was in hirh snirits we exnected
to find the breast raw. but the blister bad
only left n clean snot on his skin The
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